In this event we'll learn about the Lisbon Synagogue, its origins and the history of the Israeli community in our country through a guided tour. Come along and don't miss this Caminhando event.

History of the Israeli community in Lisbon:

Lisbon's current Jewish community has its origins in the groups of Sephardic Jews who settled in Portugal at the beginning of the 19th century. They were mostly traders from Gibraltar and Morocco (Tangier, Tetouan and Mogador) and some of their names still expressed a connection to their Iberian homelands before the expulsion period. This is the case of CONQUI (from Cuenca, province of Cuenca) or CARDOSO (from Cardoso, district of Viseu).

They were people with an above-average cultural level, knowing how to read and write and speaking, in addition to liturgical Hebrew, Arabic or English and Haquitia, a Jewish-Hispanic-Moroccan dialect. They had numerous international contacts, due not only to their commercial activities but also to their family ties throughout the world. These factors explain the rapid economic and cultural flourishing not only of the Jews of Lisbon, but also of the groups that settled in the Azores and Faro in the first half of the 19th century.

At the same time as their rapid and successful integration into Portuguese life, the first groups of Jews immediately tried to organise themselves as such, setting up prayer rooms and acquiring plots to bury their dead according to Jewish ritual. The first grave was that of José Amzalak, who died on 26 February 1804 and was buried in a plot belonging to the Estrela English Cemetery, no doubt due to the English nationality of Lisbon's first Jews, who originated, as we have seen, from Gibraltar.

At the time, the Jews were still considered a foreign colony and the community had no legal existence. The Constitutional Charter of 1826 recognised only Catholicism as the only religion permitted to Portuguese citizens, leaving other religions to foreigners. That's why, at the time, people spoke of an Israeli “colony”, just as they spoke of an English or German colony.

Unable to get their community legalised, the Jews of Lisbon set up charitable institutions, especially in the second half of the 19th century, in the form of autonomous associations, whose statutes were submitted to the Civil Government for approval, or in the form of private foundations, usually run by ladies. These institutions played a decisive role in uniting and organising Portuguese Jewry.

Another decisive step towards the constitution of the current Jewish community in Lisbon was taken in 1894 with the holding of a General Assembly of the Jews of Lisbon with the aim of unifying the Shehitá services (ritual slaughter and the supply of kashrut meat). Under the impetus of Isaac Levy and Simão Anahory, a process began that culminated in the creation, in 1897, of a committee to build a single synagogue and with the election of the 1st Committee of the Israeli Community of Lisbon, whose Honorary President was Abraham Bensaúde and the Effective President was Simão Anahory.

The construction of the Shaaré Tikvá Synagogue

There had been several prayer houses in Lisbon since 1810, but they hardly had the necessary conditions for worship, as they were located in modest flats. So, despite the difficulties caused by the lack of official recognition, the community managed to buy a plot of land on behalf of private individuals to build a proper and dignified building from scratch.

The synagogue was designed by one of the greatest architects of the time, Miguel Ventura Terra. Located at 59 Rua Alexandre Herculano, it had to be built within a walled yard, as it was not permitted to build a temple that did not have a Catholic façade, the official state religion at the time.

The foundation stone was laid in 1902, and the Shaaré-Tikvá Synagogue was finally inaugurated in 1904, culminating a 50-year endeavour by the Jews of Lisbon.